Algeria: Big, volatile and Oil Dependent

Here are some key facts about Algeria, a North African nation of 44 million which Saturday is holding parliamentary elections amid a boycott by the Hirak anti-government protest movement.

- Africa's biggest country -

Algeria is Africa's biggest country, although most of its territory is desert.

More than 80 percent of the population lives along the Mediterranean coast, where the capital Algiers is located. Nearly 54 percent are younger than 30.

The country counts some 10 million ethnic Berbers, most of them living in Kabylie, a mountainous region to the east of Algiers.

Algeria's official languages are Arabic and the Berbers' Tamazight but not French, although it is widely spoken.

- Former French colony -

A French colony since 1830, Algeria became independent in 1962 after a vicious war which lasted nearly eight years.

In 1963, Ahmed Ben Bella, secretary general of the National Liberation Front (FLN) which had led the struggle against French rule, became the first president.

Two years later, the FLN's Houari Boumediene overthrew and jailed Ben Bella, continuing to run Algeria as a one-party state until his death in 1978.

Colonel Chadli Bendjedid was then elected president, a post he held until 1992.

- Civil war -

In 1988, violent protests rocked Algiers, prompting the authorities to declare a state of emergency.

The army clamped down on demonstrators but introduced political reforms which brought an end to the single-party system.

However, when the country held its first multi-party legislative poll in 1991, the army stepped in to prevent the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) from winning and setting up an Islamic state.

That sparked a civil war between 1992 and 2002 in which some 200,000 people were killed. The Armed Islamic Group (GIA) claimed responsibility for many civilian massacres.

At the height of the conflict, FLN veteran Abdelaziz Bouteflika won the 1999 presidential election.

- 'Hirak' protests -

Bouteflika won a fourth term in 2014 despite suffering a stroke the previous year which confined him to a wheelchair.

His bid for a fifth term in 2019 sparked a massive protest movement dubbed the "Hirak", which forced Bouteflika to resign on April 2 after he lost the support of the all-powerful military.

On December 12 that year, Bouteflika's former premier Abdelmadjid Tebboune won the presidential election on an official turnout of less than 40 percent.

The Hirak, which is demanding an end to the governing system in place since independence, immediately rejected Tebboune.

The movement is also boycotting Saturday's parliamentary vote.

- Oil-dependent -

Socialist-ruled until the early 1990s, Algeria's economy remains subject to a high level of state intervention.

Algeria is Africa's third-biggest oil producer and among the world's top producers of natural gas.

The oil wealth subsidises fuel, water, health care, housing and basic goods.

However, the country's economy has been hard hit by the novel coronavirus pandemic which, along with falling crude prices, brought many sectors to a standstill.

Oil and gas represent around 90 percent of Algeria's total exports. Its hard currency reserves have plummeted from $180 billion in 2014 to less than $50 billion this year.

President Tebboune has acknowledged the economy's "vulnerability" due to its failure for decades to diversify its oil dependent economy.